Prepared and filed by St Ives Financial

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549


F O R M  6-K

REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE ISSUER PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16
UNDER THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the month of August, 2006

  TRINITY BIOTECH PLC  
 
 
  (Name of Registrant)  
     
  IDA Business Park
Bray, Co. Wicklow
Ireland
 
 
 
  (Address of Principal Executive Office)  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant files or will file annual reports under cover of Form 20-F or Form 40-F.

Form 20-F     Form 40-F

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(1):

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is submitting the Form 6-K in paper as permitted by Regulation S-T Rule 101(b)(7):

Indicate by check mark whether by furnishing the information contained in this Form, the registrant is also thereby furnishing the information to the Commission pursuant to Rule 12g3-2(b) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

Yes     No

          If “Yes” is marked, indicate below the file number assigned to the registrant in connection with Rule 12g3-2(b): 82-                


TRINITY BIOTECH PLC

6-K Item

Press Release dated August 9, 2006

FOR RELEASE, August 9, 2006
Contact: Trinity Biotech plc
Rory Nealon
(353)-1-2769800
E-mail: rory.nealon@trinitybiotech.com

Trinity Biotech Announces Quarter 2 Results
Revenues increase 20.3% and Profits increase 95%

DUBLIN, Ireland (August 9, 2006)…. Trinity Biotech plc (NASDAQ: TRIB, ISE:TRIB.I) ), a leading developer and manufacturer of diagnostic products for the point-of-care and clinical laboratory markets, today announced results for the quarter ended June 30, 2006.

Revenues in quarter 2, 2006 increased 20.3% to US$27.3 million compared to US$22.7 million in quarter 2 2005. During the same period operating profit before share option expenses increased from US$1.69 million to US$2.34 million before the impact of the once off inventory write off of US$5.8 million. Profit for the period increased from US$1.08 million in quarter 2 2005 to US$2.11 million before the inventory write off in quarter 2 2006, representing an increase of 95%.

Revenues for the six months by key product area were as follows :

  H1 2005 H1 2006  
  US$000 US$000 % Increase
Clinical Chemistry* 3,043 7,502 146.6%
Haemostasis 14,399 14,782 2.7%
Infectious Diseases 20,179 21,027 4.2%
Point of Care 6,147 8,716 41.8%
Total 43,768 52,027 18.8%

* Primus acquired in July 2005

Revenues for the six months by geographical location were as follows :

  H1 2005 H1 2006  
  US$000 US$000 % Increase
       
USA 21,808 24,948 14.4%
Europe 11,894 14,274 20.0%
Asia / Africa 10,066 12,805 27.2%
Total 43,768 52,027 18.8%


Gross profit for the quarter before the inventory write off amounted to US$13.16 million, representing a gross margin of 48.2%. This compares to a gross profit of US$10.71 million and gross margin of 47.2% for the same period in 2005. The once off inventory write off of US$5.8 million is primarily attributable to the discontinuation of various product lines following the acquisition of the bioMerieux haemostasis business in June.

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R&D expenses have increased from US$1.31 million in quarter 2 2005 to US$1.59 million in quarter 2 2006. The increase in selling, general and administrative expenses from US$7.80 million in 2005 to US$9.31 million in the current year is primarily attributable to the impact of the acquisition of Primus in July 2005.

The net effect of the above was an operating profit before share options and the once off inventory write off of US$2.34 million for the quarter compared to US$1.69 million for the quarter 2 2005 which represents a margin of 8.6% and 7.4% respectively.

Commenting on the results, Rory Nealon, Chief Financial Officer, said “Quarter 2 has been an eventful quarter for Trinity. We completed a US$25 million equity fund raising in April which was oversubscribed and which included a US$2 million participation by our CEO, Ronan O’ Caoimh. We completed the acquisition of the haemostasis business of bioMerieux which was partly funded by a new US$30 million debt facility. As part of the acquisition Trinity acquired inventory, tangible fixed assets and intangible assets including goodwill totalling approximately US$46 million. This is based on our preliminary estimate of the fair value of the assets acquired, the finalisation of which will be completed in the coming months.

Our financial performance during the quarter has been impressive in that we have experienced strong growth in both revenues and profits versus the comparable period in 2005 and Quarter 1 of this year. Our EBITDA for the quarter has also exceeded US$3.5 million for the first time.”

Ronan O’Caoimh, CEO commented, “We are particularly pleased that we have completed the acquisition of the haemostasis product line from bioMerieux during the quarter. This acquisition is our largest to date and will, we believe, be transformational for Trinity. The combination of our existing Biopool and Amax haemostasis businesses together with the acquired bioMerieux business gives us a full range of state of the art instruments with an excellent range of both routine and specialty diagnostic tests to accompany them.

Given this combination and the scale achieved through the increased customer base in the U.S., Germany and the U.K. where Trinity has existing direct salesforces in place, we will benefit from considerable and immediate synergies in these markets. We expect the acquisition to be immediately earnings accretive and to increase our haemostasis market share from 4% to 13%.

We have also settled our legal dispute with Inverness Medical. Under the terms of the settlement Inverness has granted Trinity a royalty bearing licence to its lateral flow patents for all diagnostic uses with the exception of women’s health and cardiology, including an Over the Counter (“OTC”) license for Trinity’s Unigold HIV products. In addition, Inverness has agreed to manufacture Trinity’s Unigold HIV tests primarily for the African market in its new facility in Hangzhou, China, and will reimburse Trinity for its costs of litigation.

We are pleased to have settled this litigation and to have obtained a licence which covers the potentially substantial HIV OTC market in the USA. We believe that the combination of our platform Unigold technology, as proven with our HIV products, and the broad licence from Inverness will enable us to develop a substantial and vibrant point of care business.”

Forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the “safe harbor” provision of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties including, but not limited to, the results of research and development efforts, the effect of regulation by the United States Food and Drug Administration and other agencies, the impact of competitive products, product development commercialisation and technological difficulties, and other risks detailed in the Company’s periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Trinity Biotech develops, acquires, manufactures and markets over 500 diagnostic products for the point-of-care and clinical laboratory segments of the diagnostic market. The broad line of test kits are used to detect infectious diseases, sexually transmitted diseases, blood coagulation disorders, and autoimmune diseases. Trinity Biotech sells worldwide in over 80 countries through its own salesforce and a network of international distributors and strategic partners. For further information please see the Company’s website: www.trinitybiotech.com.

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Trinity Biotech plc
Consolidated Statements of Income

(US$000’s except share data)     Three Months
Ended
June 30,
2006
(unaudited)
    Three Months
Ended
June 30,
2005
(unaudited)
    Six Months
Ended
June 30,
2006
(unaudited)
    Six Months
Ended
June 30,
2005
(unaudited)
 
     
   
   
   
 
Revenues     27,314     22,712     52,027     43,768  
                           
Cost of sales
    (14,133 )   (11,973 )   (26,333 )   (22,808 )
Cost of sales – inventory write off
    (5,800 )       (5,800 )    
Cost of sales – share based payments
    (24 )   (24 )   (50 )   (52 )
     
   
   
   
 
                           
Gross profit
    7,357     10,715     19,844     20,908  
Gross profit before inventory write off
    13,157     10,715     25,644     20,908  
                           
Other operating income
    61     62     121     126  
                           
Research & development expenses
    (1,592 )   (1,314 )   (2,957 )   (2,680 )
S,G&A expenses
    (9,308 )   (7,799 )   (18,560 )   (15,298 )
Indirect share based payments
    (241 )   (330 )   (585 )   (659 )
     
   
   
   
 
                           
Operating profit / (loss)
    (3,723 )   1,334     (2,137 )   2,397  
Operating profit before inventory write off
    2,077     1,334     3,663     2,397  
                           
Financial income
    311     117     465     230  
Financial expenses
    (400 )   (222 )   (742 )   (461 )
     
   
   
   
 
Net financing costs
    (89 )   (105 )   (277 )   (231 )
     
   
   
   
 
                           
Profit / (Loss) before tax
    (3,812 )   1,229     (2,414 )   2,166  
                           
Income tax (expense) / credit
    1,700     (146 )   1,542     (244 )
     
   
   
   
 
Profit / (Loss) for the period
    (2,112 )   1,083     (872 )   1,922  
Profit for the period before inventory write off
    2,115     1,083     3,355     1,922  
                           
Earnings per ADR
    (11.7 )   7.5     (5.2 )   13.4  
Earnings per ADR before inventory write off
    11.7     7.5     20.1     13.4  
                           
Diluted earnings per ADR
    (11.7 )   7.5     (4.1 )   13.4  
Diluted earnings before inventory write off
    11.4     7.5     19.6     13.4  
Weighted average no. of shares used in computing earnings per share
    72,186,336     57,714,081     66,853,745     57,366,295  

The above financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the principles of International Financial Reporting Standards and the Company’s accounting policies but does not constitute an interim financial report as defined in IAS34 (Interim Financial Reporting).

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Trinity Biotech plc
Consolidated Balance Sheet

      December 31, 2005
US$ ‘000
    June 30,
2006
US$ ‘000
(unaudited)
 
     
   
 
ASSETS
             
Non-current assets
             
Property, plant and equipment
    19,202     21,694  
Goodwill and intangible assets
    85,197     118,956  
Deferred tax assets
    3,277     6,331  
Other assets
    61     61  
     
   
 
Total non-current assets
    107,737     147,042  
     
   
 
               
Current assets
             
Inventories
    36,450     37,642  
Trade and other receivables
    20,885     35,712  
Income tax receivable
    649     395  
Financial assets – restricted cash
    9,000     17,000  
Cash and cash equivalents
    9,881     3,037  
Derivative financial instruments
        124  
     
   
 
Total current assets
    76,865     93,910  
     
   
 
               
     
   
 
TOTAL ASSETS
    184,602     240,952  
     
   
 
               
EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
             
Equity attributable to the equity holders of the parent
             
Share capital
    830     957  
Share premium
    124,227     148,023  
Retained earnings
    6,280     6,041  
Translation reserve
    (1,622 )   (703 )
Other reserves
    3,903     4,046  
     
   
 
Total equity
    133,618     158,364  
     
   
 
               
Current liabilities
             
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
    7,720     9,374  
Convertible notes – interest bearing
    7,203     5,463  
Income tax payable
    260     1,587  
Trade and other payables
    12,768     14,729  
Other financial liabilities
    3,707     3,208  
Derivative financial instruments
    44      
Provisions
    199     100  
     
   
 
Total current liabilities
    31,901     34,461  
     
   
 
               
Non-current liabilities
             
Interest-bearing loans and borrowings
    10,369     37,029  
Convertible notes – interest bearing
    1,836      
Other tax payable
    48     52  
Other payables
    102     2,593  
Deferred tax liabilities
    6,728     8,453  
     
   
 
Total non-current liabilities
    19,083     48,127  
     
   
 
TOTAL LIABILITIES
    50,984     82,588  
     
   
 
               
     
   
 
TOTAL EQUITY AND LIABILITIES
    184,602     240,952  
     
   
 

The above financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the principles of International Financial Reporting Standards and the Company’s accounting policies but does not constitute an interim financial report as defined in IAS34 (Interim Financial Reporting).

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

   TRINITY BIOTECH PLC
 
   (Registrant)
     
     
  By: /s/ Rory Nealon

    Rory Nealon
    Chief Financial Officer and Secretary

Date: August 14, 2006

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